Shoelace knot holding apparatus

ABSTRACT

A shoelace knot holding apparatus for holding the shoelace knot in a tied position is provided. The shoelace knot holding apparatus including a bottom frame positioned below the shoelace knot having a rear bottom end and a front bottom end, a top frame positioned above the shoelace knot having a rear top end and a rear bottom end. The shoelace knot holding apparatus includes a zigzag swivel hinge extending from the rear bottom end to connect with the rear top end and further facilitates the front top end of the top frame to loop around the shoelace knot to connect with the front bottom end of the bottom frame. The shoelace knot holding apparatus includes plurality of bottom frame teeth extending from the inner side of the bottom frame and plurality of top frame teeth extending from the inner side of the top frame to grab and maintain the shoelace knot in a tied position.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

The present invention claims priority of the provisional patent application No 61/981,603 filed on Apr. 18, 2014; all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is generally related to the field of shoe accessories, and more particularly to a shoelace knot holding apparatus for holding the shoelace knot in a tied position.

2. Description of the Related Art

Shoelace knots that are tied too loosely can result in injury. Children's feet can slip out of their shoes because their shoelaces are not tied tight enough, or loose shoelace knots could come completely undone and increase the likelihood that a child will trip over the untied laces.

As stated above, untied shoelaces are very unsafe for everyone, especially children. They cause 67% of playground injuries of which more than 200,000 are reported each year. They cause reduced athletic performance and cost parents the time and money for replacing shoelaces that get knotted and damaged.

Conventional footwear is provided with laces or other fasteners to act as closure means. Professional athletes, joggers, young children and, in fact, all who wear shoes fastened with laces are often faced with the annoyance of bow-knots which become untied at inconvenient or hazardous times which might cause falling over the loose laces.

Children enjoy novelty items and accessories that they can wear, particularly plush items that resemble popular characters like flowers, animals, cartoons etc. Children like to display such items is on their body. There is need a simple lace guard which is inexpensive to manufacture and easy to apply and use or one that is already built into the footwear and that is easy to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a shoelace knot holding apparatus for holding the shoelace knot in a tied position is provided.

An object of the present invention is to provide a shoelace knot holding apparatus including a bottom frame positioned below the shoelace knot having a rear bottom end and a front bottom end, a top frame positioned above the shoelace knot having a rear top end and a rear bottom end.

The shoelace knot holding apparatus includes a zigzag swivel hinge extending from the rear bottom end to connect with the rear top end. The zigzag swivel hinge further facilitates the front top end of the top frame to loop around the shoelace knot to connect with the front bottom end of the bottom frame.

The shoelace knot holding apparatus includes plurality of bottom frame teeth extending from the inner side of the bottom frame and plurality of top frame teeth extending from the inner side of the top frame to grab and maintain the shoelace knot in a tied position.

In yet another object of the present invention, the shoelace knot holding apparatus further includes a female receptor configured in the bottom frame at the front bottom end, and a male projector configured in the top frame at the front top end to snap fit with the female receptor at the front bottom end when looped through the zigzag swivel hinge around the shoelace knot.

In yet another object of the present invention, the shoelace knot holding apparatus further includes a recess configured in the zigzag swivel hinge to receive an article for recreational purposes. Articles such as bracelet, threads may be used to match with the color of the shoe or shoelace.

In yet another object of the present invention, the shoelace knot holding apparatus further includes a bracelet configured to go through the recess and further the bracelet attaches the top frame and the bottom frame with the shoe. The bracelet is to enhance the looks of the shoe. Further, the apparatus includes a recreational piece detachably attached to the outer surface of the top frame for recreational purposes.

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of certain embodiments of the present invention, will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, certain embodiments are shown in the drawings. It should be understood, however, that the present invention is not limited to the arrangements and instrumentality shown in the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a top perspective view of the shoelace knot holding apparatus when open in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the shoelace knot holding apparatus when open in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a top perspective view of the shoelace knot holding apparatus holding the knot of the shoelace in tied position in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a top perspective view of the recreational piece attached on the top frame in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

These and other features and advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

While this technology is illustrated and described in a preferred embodiment, shoelace knot holding apparatus for holding a shoelace knot of a shoe in a tied position may be produced in many different shapes, sizes and materials. There is depicted in the drawings, and will herein be described in detail, as a preferred embodiment of the invention, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and the associated functional specifications for its construction and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. Those skilled in the art will envision many other possible variations within the scope of the technology described herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a top perspective view of the shoelace knot holding apparatus 100 when open in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The shoelace knot holding apparatus 100 includes a bottom frame 102 positioned below the shoelace knot having a front bottom end 104 and a rear bottom end 106, a top frame 108 positioned above the shoelace knot having a rear top end 110 and a front top end 112. The placement of the top frame 108 and the bottom frame 102 above and below the shoelace knot is explained in detail in conjunction with FIG. 3 of the present invention.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the shoelace knot holding apparatus 100 is in an open position, the distance in between the front bottom end 104 and the rear top end 110 is about 71 mm. It would be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various shapes, sizes and dimensions of the shoelace knot holding apparatus 100 may be envisioned according to the configuration of the shoelace and the shoe, without deviating from the scope of the present invention.

The shoelace knot holding apparatus 100 includes a zigzag swivel hinge 114 extending from the rear bottom end 106 to connect with the rear top end 112. The zigzag swivel hinge 113 further facilitates the front top end 110 of the top frame 108 to loop around the shoelace knot to connect with the front bottom end 106 of the bottom frame 102.

Further, the length of zigzag swivel hinge 113 i.e. the distance in between the rear bottom end 106 and the front top end 112 is about 7 mm. In a preferred embodiment the zigzag swivel hinge 113 is made up of a flexible material which allows the user to vary the length according to the size of shoelace knot.

The shoelace knot holding apparatus 100 may include a plurality of bottom frame teeth 114 such as 114 a, 114 b extending from the inner side 116 of the bottom frame 102 and plurality of top frame teeth 118 such as 118 a, 118 b extending from the inner side 120 of the top frame 108 to grab and maintain the shoelace knot in the tied position.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the length of the teeth 114 may range from about 0.5 mm to about 2 mm. Further, the height of the teeth 114 may range from about 1 mm to about 2 mm. Examples of the material for used in creating the shoelace knot holding apparatus 100 include but not limited to polyurethanes, rubber, plastic materials, metal, wood etc.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shoelace knot holding apparatus 100 further includes a recess 122 configured in the zigzag swivel hinge 113 to receive an article for recreational purposes. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the article is a bracelet. However, it would be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various other forms of articles may also be placed with the apparatus 100 to enhance the appearance of the shoe.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shoelace knot holding apparatus 100 further includes a recreational piece (not shown in FIG. 1) detachably attached to the outer surface of the top frame 108 for recreational purposes. The recreational piece (not shown in FIG. 1) is shown and explained in detail in conjunction with FIG. 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of the shoelace knot holding apparatus 200 when open in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention. The shoelace knot holding apparatus 200 further includes a female receptor 202 configured in the bottom frame 102 at the front bottom end 104 and a male projector 204 configured in the top frame 108 at the rear top end 110. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the distance in between the female receptor 202 and male projector 204 is about 63.50 mm.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top perspective view of the shoelace knot holding apparatus 300 holding the knot of the shoelace in tied position in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention. Further, in another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus 100 further includes a bracelet 302 configured to go through the recess 122 and further the bracelet 302 attaches the top frame 108 and the bottom frame 102 with the shoe 304. The bracelet 302 can be any shape, size, or color as long as it attaches the top frame 108 and the bottom frame 102 with the shoe 304.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the shoelace knot is maintained in the tight position in between the top frame 108 and the bottom frame 102. The tight position is the one when the shoelace is tied.

FIG. 4 illustrates a top perspective view of the recreational piece 400 attached on the top frame (not visible in FIG. 4) in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention. The recreational piece 400 may be attached to the top frame by adhesives, stitching, molding etc. Examples of the recreational piece 400 includes but not limited to any ornamental design, plastic flowers, wooden flowers, figurines etc. in various colors to match the color of the shoe 402.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the shoelace knot holding apparatus further may include a micro gps transmitter tracker molded in either the top frame or the bottom frame or the zigzag swivel hinge. In another embodiment of the present invention, the micro gps transmitter tracker used herein is TL-218 from the GOTOP Limited. However, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art various types of micro gps transmitter tracker may also be used without deviating from the scope of the present invention.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shoelace knot holding apparatus further includes LED microlights configured in at least one of the top frame, bottom frame, and zigzag swivel hinge for producing illumination effects and a phosphorescent coating on at least one of the top frame, bottom frame and the zigzag swivel hinge for producing glow-in-the-dark effects.

The present invention offer various advantages such as grabbing the shoelace knot within the teeth of the shoelace knot holding apparatus and thus maintaining the tied position. The shoelace knot holding apparatus prevents people from falling due to untied shoelace. Further, the shoelace knot holding apparatus allows the user to match it with the color of the shoe for recreational purposes.

There has thus been shown and described a shoelace knot holding apparatus for holding the shoelace knot in a tied position. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications of the subject invention will, however, become apparent to those skilled in the art after considering this specification and the accompanying drawings which disclose the preferred embodiments thereof. All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention, which is to be limited only by the claims which follow. 

1. A shoelace knot holding apparatus for holding a shoelace knot of a shoe in a tied position, the shoelace knot holding apparatus comprising: a bottom frame positioned below the shoelace knot having a rear bottom end and a front bottom end; a top frame positioned above the shoelace knot having a rear top end and a rear bottom end; a zigzag swivel hinge extending from the rear bottom end to connect with the rear top end, the zigzag swivel hinge further facilitates the front top end of the top frame to loop around the shoelace knot to connect with the front bottom end of the bottom frame; plurality of bottom frame teeth extending from the inner side of the bottom frame; and plurality of top frame teeth extending from the inner side of the top frame to grab and maintain the shoelace knot in the tied position.
 2. The shoelace knot holding apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising: a female receptor configured in the bottom frame at the front bottom end; and a male projector configured in the top frame at the front top end to snap fit with the female receptor at the front bottom end when looped through the zigzag swivel hinge around the shoelace knot.
 3. The shoelace knot holding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a recess configured in the zigzag swivel hinge to receive an article for recreational purposes.
 4. The shoelace knot holding apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a bracelet configured to go through the recess and further the bracelet attaches the top frame and the bottom frame with the shoe.
 5. The shoelace knot holding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a recreational piece detachably attached to the outer surface of the top frame for recreational purposes.
 6. The shoelace knot holding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the length of the zigzag swivel hinge is 7 mm.
 7. The shoelace knot holding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the length of the zigzag swivel hinge is adjustable according to the size of the shoe.
 8. The shoelace knot holding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distance in between the rear bottom end and the front top end is 71 mm.
 9. The shoelace knot holding apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a micro gps transmitter tracker configured in at least one of the top frame; bottom frame; and zigzag swivel hinge for tracking the shoe.
 10. The shoelace knot holding apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising one or more LED microlights configured in at least one of the top frame; bottom frame; and zigzag swivel hinge for producing illumination effects.
 11. The shoelace knot holding apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a phosphorescent coating configured in at least one of the top frame; bottom frame; and zigzag swivel hinge for producing glow-in-the-dark effects. 